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' W. BECKERT.

BBD.

No.l 402,129. y Patented Apr. so, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BECKERT, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYIANIA.

BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,129, dated April30, '1889.

v Application filed August 29, 1888. Serial No. 284,107. (No model.)

To all whom it mag/concern,.-

Be it known thatl, WILLIAM BECKERT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Beds;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of beds which are capable of beingextended, and has for its object greater simplicity, cheapness, anddurability, as well as increased facilities for shipping purposes. i

lith these ends in view my invention consists of the peculiar featuresand combination f parts, more fully described hereinafter, and pointedout in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my invention when extended andready for use, the slats, however, being removed to better illustratethe construction of the frame; Fig. 2, an end elevation through 0c ofFig. 3, in which a plan is shown; and Fig. 4, a detail of the manner ofattaching the caster.

The referencefletter a denotes the side bars of the bed, and b the endbars. Both the side and end bars are composed of tubular telescopicsections c d, provided with set-screws e, by means of which they may belocked in any desired adjustment. The legs-f are also made telescopicand provided with lockingscreWs like the side and end bars, and by thismeans the bed can be given any height orinclination. The upper section,g, is provided with a thread and is screwed into the fourway socket 7L.The lower section, ,'is also screw-threaded to enter the threadedaperture 7c in the upper end of the detachable socket The lower end ofthis socket is provided with a threaded recess, Z, for the reception ofthe circular bearing m, which is bored out to receive the smooth shank oof the caster p. The iiange q supports the bearing m, and hence the bedand a collar, r, upon the upper extremity of the shank prevent thecaster from dropping out. rlhe castersof all four legs are attached inthis manner.

The head and foot pieces,s and t, are of similar construction, eachconsisting of the vertical posts lu and horizontal telescopic bars o,the latter being provided with set-screws w, like the other partsalready described. The posts a and bars are threaded and joined byL-coupling e, or by any suitable means.

The extensible spring-slats which constitute one of the leadingco-operative parts of my invention are each composed of two slidingsections, e e, capable of being locked and unlocked by means of clampsa. These clamps consist of a pair of eyes or loops, b', connectedtogether by a bar, c', through the center of which passes a set-screw,d. The slat ends e e are passed through these eyes or loops Z2 and madeto overlap each other, as shown in Fig. 2, and are held in locked adjustment by the set-screw d. The outer ends, f', of the slats areyieldingly supported upon the side bars by being curved under insomewhat the form of the letter S in cross-section, or a reverse curve.The inner half, g', of this curved end its snugly over the upper surfaceof the side bar, and the straight portion of the slat just above it isnot near enough to strike the end when. pressure is brought to bear uponthe slat. This arrangement allows a free transverse pivotal movement ofthe slat upon the seat.

To prevent the slats from tipping over or becoming displaced, thelongitudinal stringers h are provided and secured to the under side ofthe slats by staples 7c. These stringers are also composed of twosliding sections, Z', connected together by clamps on', like those onthe slats. K The operation of my device is apparent. The telescopicframe allows it to be extended or contracted, as the case may be, andhence when it becomes necessary to provide a single bed the set-screwsmay be loosened and the bed-frame contracted laterally. The slats mayeasily be shortened to correspond with the width of the bed by simplyloosening the clamps o and locking them again when the required lengthis attained. In the same manner the height or length of the bed may begiven any suitable adjustment.

yBy using common pipe and the ordinary pipe-couplings my device can beconstructed with great facility and durability and at small cost.

Having thus described my invention, what I ICO lthe telescopic side andend rails, whereby the bed may be extended and contracted laterally andlongitudinally, telescopic legs for adjusting the height of the bed, andfour-way couplings, for connecting said telescopic sections together, inthe manner and for the purpose substantially as described.

3. The combination of the side rails, the end rails, extensible slatshaving their outer ends bent in the form of an S, the inner curvedportion of which is loosely seated upon said side rails, andlongitudinal extensible strin gers connected to said slats,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aix my si gnature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM BECKERT.

Witnesses:

CHAs. R. WEITERSHAUSEN, C. J. WEITERSHAUSEN.

